Robb Report Australia

Leica's new 'M' model is the slimmest and fastest it has ever made

The camera family that excites professional and enthusiast photographers more than any other, Leica’s M-System, has a new model the company says is the slimmest digital ‘M’ model ever made, with its fastest-ever image processor.

The M10 leverages Leica’s 60 years of rangefinder expertise – harking back to the release of the M3 model at Photokina in 1954 – and 11 years of digital M camera development, as well as feedback from a dedicated legion of users of the German brand.

“Every single component and every technical solution concentrates uncompromisingly on photography,” the company asserts.

Features include the slimline construction, an optimised rangefinder, a new 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor with expanded ISO sensitivity range, wireless transfer of picures to mobile devices, and a state-of-the-art image processor that makes the M10 “the fastest M-Camera ever made”.

At 33.75 millimetres depth at the top plate, the M10 is four millimetres slimmer than its close relative, the Leica M (Typ 240). Leica also overhauled the controls to concentrate on essential functions, including a new ISO setting dial on the top plate that enables faster access to all essential shooting parameters.

Leica also put it decades of rangefinder expertise to use by creating a 30 per cent larger field of view with increased magnification, plus a 50 per cent increase in eye relief, or the optimum distance from the eye to the viewfinder eyepiece. The latter innovation makes the camera much easier to use for photographers wearing glasses.

Additionally, the M10 is the first M-Camera with integrated WLAN connectivity, enabling wireless transfer of pictures to Apple mobile devices for fast editing and social sharing. The camera can also be remotely controlled by a smartphone or tablet.

The CEO of Leica Camera AG, Oliver Kaltner describes the Leica M as “the heart, the backbone and the soul of Leica Camera”.

“The innovative camera and its concentration on the functions essential to photography set new standards, while its exceptionally lean handling concept takes us a further step towards absolute perfection,” he says.

While conceding the M10 is “not a camera for everyone”, Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, majority shareholder and chairman of the supervisory board of Leica Camera AG, says it is “a camera for people who love a system that is built for the future while maintaining consistent compatibility with its past”.